Sonic Universe
by Dyceman88
Summary: Sonic's and his friends find themselves colliding with old friends and new enemies but with some of their memory missing can they figure out who is who?
1. Chapter 1

(Note: This story takes place after the events of the game Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 in Soleanna and the "Solaris Incident" so many characters though they were involved do not remember what happened due to amnesia, for details play the game before reading or at least know the story and result of plot. This also introduces a lot of old and new characters though some of my own creation and some new versions (like a newer Metal Sonic) and some just from the newer generation of sonic games like Silver) Chapter 1: The Dynamic Duo

Manic and Sonia sped along the open grassland on their hoverboards, weaving around the rocks and other obstacles that occasionally blocked their path. They had been travelling for several hours now, ever since their attempt at getting food and other supplies in the last city had gone sour.

'That's the third time…those darn rogues' Manic snapped over the whipping of their boards.

'Oh just get over it already, it's in the past, not like we can do anything about it now' Sonia replied, swerving to cut between two rocks.

Manic smirked 'nice move…I just can't though, first they dominate the X-Gear racing scene, making it impossible for us to earn any money and now they are putting thiefs in a bad light, we steal to survive and we always find ways to repay those we steal from, like the way we saved that farmer's daughter, those buzzards are just bullies.'

The two of them slowed down and swerved over to a shaded area, with a rock outcropping.

'I know' replied Sonia, jumping off her board 'but they have clearly been using the gear longer then us…plus they are birds so of course they have the advantage.'

Manic jumped off his own board and put it down in a corner 'they abuse it though!'

Sonia nodded 'yeah…it's a shame really, they could be really helpful if only they chose another path, they remind me of…of Sonic.'

That had clearly not been something Manic was expecting, he looked at her wide-eyed 'how are they anything like Sonic?'

Sonia sighed and sat down and Manic sat down beside her, the two looking out over the sky as the sun began to set 'well they are wild and free…like dare devils, I miss that about Sonic, don't you?'

Manic looked at the sun for a long moment before replying 'I already told you how I felt about this…about him.'

'Him! He's our brother Manic' Sonia replied 'regardless of how far away he is or what has come between us. All these things we've heard about him, everywhere we go, the "Blue Wind" and so on and all his heroic achievements, he's clearly done so much since he left us.'

Manic nods 'maybe, but that is what everyone doesn't know, he wasn't always such a hero; he was the gifted one, the one blessed with super speed and so he ran off to live an adventurous free life and left his normal siblings behind, he left us Sonia, left us to fend for ourselves, he could of found a way to take us with him…but no, he just ran off into the sunset.'

Sonia looked away, hiding tears, she wasn't as royal and posh as she had been when she was young, since Sonic had left, Manic's street life and punky style had rubbed off on her, downgrading her personality and appearance to a more female version of him, though with a more level head.

Manic watched his sister for a moment then stood up and walked over to a different spot and sat down again, leaving her in peace, 'I'm sorry sis, but we agreed on this remember, we're the Dynamic Duo now, all we need is each other…right?'

Sonia wiped her eyes but shook her head 'no, I'm sorry Manic but I can't pretend to not care about him anymore, he's our brother, he must have had a reason for leaving and I say we find him and talk to him.'

Manic leaned his head back against the rock 'ok, fine, if it really means that much to you, then we'll try but I don't know how we're going to find him, we don't even know where he is.'

Sonia smiled 'we follow our hearts, we are siblings, more than that, we're triplets, all we have to do is follow our instincts.'

Sonic dashed across the open grassland, watching the trees, rocks and occasional person blur by 'whooooooh', he leapt into the air, leaping from rock, to tree trunk to the opening of a cave and ran through it, spiralling round and round and then shot out the other side.

Looking up at the sky he sees Tails flying overhead and slows down 'hey Tails, I was wondering where you went.'

Tails laughs 'you know I can't keep up when you do that Sonic' he said descending and landing next to him.

'You know I'd never leave you behind little buddy, don't worry so much' said Sonic patting Tails on the shoulder.

'Yeah…I know, its just…things have been real quiet recently…too quiet, I don't like it, no Eggman or anything' Tails replied thoughtfully.

Sonic didn't reply, unbothered, finally he said 'well hey that's a good thing right, never mind about all that though, Soleanna sure was some festival huh?'

Tails turned and nodded 'yeah it was amazing, all the lights and dancing, the torches and flames, they really take that festival seriously.'

Sonic nodded thoughtfully.

'What's wrong Sonic, you look like something's on you mind?'

Sonic shook his head 'it's just these dreams I've been having and flashes in my head, the princess of Soleanna was there and so was this large beast made of fire…and Shadow… at least I think it was Shadow…but he looked…different.'

'Different how?'

Sonic just shook his head 'I don't know…'

After a moment Tails nodded 'I've been having them too, I think, strange images in my head, but they don't make any sense.'

The two continue walking at a normal speed as Tails continued 'I don't know what to make of it, it may have something to do with Eggman…but I doubt it, it's just not his style.'

Sonic laughs 'yeah, he's all about robots…he never really changes his angle.'

Suddenly there was a cry of frustration from ahead and the two broke into a run, they came into a clearing to find Knuckles punching a large boulder into rubble in that immature way only Knuckles could really pull off.

'Knuckles, what are you doing here' Tails asked.

Knuckles ignored him and continued to punch the boulder 'what's up Knucklehead' asked Sonic casually.

Knuckles stopped, crossed his arms and turned to look at Sonic, giving him a glare 'don't call me that Sonic, I'm not in the mood.'

'So…what's going on then' asked Sonic.

Knuckles turned to point to a small town down a hill in the distance 'I was just in town, down there, heard there was some trouble with thieves, so I went to investigate…ran into some old friends of ours.'

'Who' Tails asked.

'The Babylon Rogues' Knuckles growled.

Sonic shook his head 'those guys just don't know when to quit, I think we should go and teach them a lesson.'

Knuckles grins 'sounds good to me, I could use a good brawl.'

'I wonder how the Babylon Rogues got all the way here' Tails said, more to himself then to the others 'and why are they here…just to steal stuff?'

Knuckles nods 'it seems so, that's low, even for them.'

'It is and I won't stand for it' Sonic said 'come on' and he broke into a run towards the town, Knuckles and Tails close behind.

Jet, Wave and Storm zoomed around the town grabbing everything of value they saw 'alright, now this is more like it, this is the kind of merchandise we've been looking for' Jet said as he swerved to a stop.

'I agree, we can charge the Princess of Soleanna so much to get all this back' Wave replied, holding up a beautiful necklace and looking at it's design of bird shaped beads, like the kind represented all over Soleanna, in representation of Solaris probably.

Jet laughed 'oh way better then that, we can sell this stuff off for new X-Gear equipment, that way I'll never lose to anyone ever again.'

Wave just rolled her eyes, she wasn't going to try and convince Jet that Sonic was always going to beat him on foot anyway so being able to beat him on a board was kind of a pointless achievement. After three tournaments she had finally come to realise this, not that that made her like Sonic and his little band any better.

'Hey boss, looks like we got company' Storm said pointing to three figures running their way fast, unlike most people who were running away from them or cowering.

Jet locked eyes on Sonic and swerved his board round to face him 'ah, speak of the hedgehog and he shall appear' he swung his sack of stolen goods over his shoulder.

Sonic curled his hands into fists 'Jet, you thief, give these people back what you've stolen.'

Jet laughed and tapped his beak 'ok.'

'Really' said Tails.

Jet rocketed past them sending the three of them flying in a tornado of wind 'no, sorry but we gotta make a living you know.'

Wave swerved up beside him 'hey shorty' she said to Tails 'how you doing, still working on being a "Grade A" loser. Like Jet said we need money and as we have no idea how to get out of this world…'

'We steal from others for income' Storm finished, joining the other two.

Knuckles stepped forward 'you crooks.'

The Babylon Zeppelin began to appear over the horizon and Jet smiled 'that's our ride, but this is far from over Sonic the Hedgehog.'

Sonic leapt for Jet but Storm got in the way, Knuckles leapt on Storm, knocking him off his board and the two began fist fighting on the floor.

Tails flew at Wave, managing to grab her bag of loot but not her and flew off with it. Wave flew off after him.

'Go Sonic' Knuckles yelled 'get Jet, I got this feather duster.'

'Who you calling a feather duster, needle head' Storm yelled as the two punched each other back and forth around the street.

Sonic burst to full speed following Jet, who had already made it out of town and across the fields toward the waiting zeppelin near the forest.

'Whoa, what's with the new gear, I know Jet can be fast but he's outrunning me on that thing' Sonic said to himself as he pursued Jet.

Jet looked back at him in the distance 'like my new gear huh, it's perfectly tuned with the wind, air currents and my own ability to fly as a bird.'

Sonic was almost level with him as he finished talking but then he looked up to see Tails and Wave side-by-side playing tug of war over the bag of loot 'let it go shorty!'

'No, you let go' Tails grunted back, pulling as hard as he could while still trying to maintain flight.

There was a zoom and Storm rocketed through knocking Tails out of the air and down to the floor; the three rogues flew into the Zeppelin as it began to ascend.

Sonic stopped to see if his friend was ok 'Tails, you ok?'

With a groan Tails pulled himself up, holding his eye 'yeah, I think so.'

They looked up in time to see the zeppelin disappearing beyond the hills, Knuckles ran past the two of them yelling 'aaaagghhh, get back here, I'm not done with you, cowards!'

Tails sighed 'sorry I lost the bag, I had it, until Storm came along.'

Sonic put his arm around him 'don't sweat it, I doubt that's the last we've seen of them.'

Turning back to look at them Knuckles said 'what makes you say that?'

'Of course' Tails cut in 'what Wave said, right Sonic? The Babylon Rogues are stuck here in Soleanna, that's why they've resorted to thievery, they don't have any races here to get money so they clearly see it as their only option.'

Knuckles gave a disgruntled noise 'not a very good excuse, they could just treasure hunt like me.'

'I imagine they're doing both but they don't know this world, if they knew about any treasure…they'd be headed there now probably but…I guess they don't' Tails continued.

Knuckles shakes his head 'so what shall we do now?'

'I think we should go see if we can help the people clean up the town, the rogues left it in quite a mess, what do you say' Sonic said looking at the other two 'at least until we figure out our next move.'

The other two nod and they set off back towards town together.

As Sonic, Tails and Knuckles helped the people clean up the town the people watched them but only with mild curiosity. They seemed unbothered by their presence or the fact that they were walking talking animals; clearly news had spread fast since Sonic had appeared at the festival in Soleanna capital.

While they were at the docks helping clean up a large pile of crates that had fallen everywhere Sonic suddenly got tackled and almost fell into the water 'aagghhh, I hate water' he looked round to see who had grabbed hold of him and to no real surprise, Amy Rose had somehow found him again.

'I found you at last Sonic, my beloved, blue boyfriend' Amy said.

'Amy' Sonic whined, trying to push her away, 'can you at least let me go.'

'Promise not to run away' she said looking up at him with those ridiculous puppy eyes of hers; the eyes that drove Sonic mad on multiple levels.

'Yeah ok, just let go, this is embarrassing' Sonic muttered.

Amy laughed that girlish laugh 'you're so silly, I've been looking everywhere for you, I was at the festival but I couldn't find you anywhere, then I met up with Cream.'

Only then did everyone notice Cream standing on the jetty 'hello Mr Sonic, Mr Tails um…Mr Knuckles' she said slightly cautious of Knuckles' weary look.

'Then we went looking for you, not that we stood a chance of keeping up with you, you wait for no girl do you' Amy continued, getting into her whiny pitch.

'He doesn't really wait for anyone period, why should you be any different' Knuckles grumbled, folding his arms behind his head.

Amy went slightly red 'because I'm his girlfriend' she said at last in a sweet voice, controlling her anger.

'Says you' Knuckles replied.

Amy pulled out her hammer and started towards Knuckles but Sonic and Tails held her back.

'Excuse me' said one of the nearby people 'perhaps you could give us a hand, we need to clean these docks and we still have a lot of work to do.'

Sonic raised his thumb 'sure no problem, we'll help with not only the dock but the whole town.'

'What happened here anyway' Amy asked 'it's a real mess.'

'The Babylon's happened' Knuckles replied, 'they came in here and started stealing anything and everything of value, they got away with the loot before we could stop them.'

Amy put on a thoughtful expression 'Babylon's…you mean those bird racers you beat a while back.'

Sonic nodded 'they trashed this place.'

Cream ran up beside Amy 'how awful, I remember them, they were really mean.'

'They weren't too bad when they were just interested in racing but I forgot that they are also thieves' Sonic said, 'should have remembered that.'

'It's not your fault Sonic, none of us knew they were even here' Tails said.

Nodding Sonic picked up a couple of boxes, 'I guess.'

Chapter 2: The New Mission

Charmy zoomed around the forest sniffing the flowers; he was bored and in his boredom had taken to his favourite past time of buzzing around like the hyper little bee that he was. Just as he started to think he'll head back to Chaotix HQ and see what Espeo or Vector are up too he saw a man walking through the forest just ahead of him, a human man.

'Hi, I'm Charmy, Charmy the Bee, we don't get many humans round these parts, you look a little lost, maybe I can help, what's your name, where you going?'

The man, perplexed by Charmy's behaviour merely blinks 'I…I'm a messenger, my name is Marcus.'

'A messenger huh, cool so am I, kind of, at least that is what my team mates call me, yep Charmy the messenger bee ha ha, get it, instead of boy, messenger bee.'

Marcus merely nodded; eyebrow raised 'yeah…I'm looking for the headquarters of something called uh…Chaotix, some sort of private investigator or something.'

Charmy did a little spin in the air 'well you found us, your talking to one of the Chaotix members, follow me, I'll show you the way to our HQ.'

Charmy flew out into clearing by the Chaotix HQ, Marcus right behind him 'hey Espio come down here, we got a guest.'

Espio, who had been lying in the tree, eyes closed, focusing his mind in a state of meditation; leapt down and moved over to join Charmy and Marcus, nodding his head in greeting but not speaking.

Vector came out the front door of the house 'what's all the noise Charmy, I'm trying to wor…hey whose this guy, a human, don't get many humans out here.'

Marcus pulled out a large package 'are you Vector, the leader of Team Chaotix?'

Vector nodded 'yep that's me, what can we, that's to say our Private Investigation Team, do for you?'

Marcus handed over the package 'I am Marcus, a messenger of the royal family of the world of Soleanna and I represent Princess Elise, the current sovereign.'

'Soleanna' Espio muttered under his breath thoughtfully but quickly put back his serious emotionless look.

Vector shook his head 'I never heard of it, what exactly is it this princess wants from us?'

Marcus turned to leave, 'everything will be explained on that video tape, I hope you choose to help us, we need all the help we can get.'

The three team members looked at the package with great curiosity.

They went inside the house and Vector took the tape out of the package.

'Why am I getting the greatest feeling we've done this before' Espio said calmly 'oh yes' he continued answering his own question 'because the last time we responded to a package we were led into a trap.'

'That was totally different though, we received this package from a real person Espio, he came from a real place and everything' Charmy replied, flying about impatiently.

'Yes…Soleanna, I think that is where Knuckles said he was going' Espio said, more to himself.

'Yeah yeah, fascinating' Vector grumbled, as he sorted the video machine and inserted the tape 'now let's see what exactly it is this princess wants us our help with.'

The machine came on and a beautiful young red haired woman came onto the screen, she was sitting on a small throne, two hooded figures either side and the smallest amount of light coming in from the window and balcony behind her chair. She was wearing a simple white dress and looked fragile and deeply concerned. She looked at the screen and begun to speak.

_Team Chaotix, I hope this has reached you safely…I don't know what to do. My people are suffering from…nightmares and visions of some kind, I do not know why, I do not know how. My people have tried everything…and so we have been forced to look further abroad, we are aware of other worlds, of other creatures, there have recently been many strange creatures in our world as well as a matter of fact, it is clear they are just as aware of us as we are of them. I am aware that you yourselves are animals but I do not judge you on that, you come highly recommended. I hope that you can solve whatever is happening to my people. If you can, we will forever be in your debt and, of course, you will be rewarded, I am royalty, money is no object and it has little importance to me. Please consider helping us Team Chaotix, if you do not…I don't know who will._

The screen went black and there was silence for several minutes, finally Vector spoke 'hmmm, what do you think Espio?'

'Evil of some kind is at work, but not the doctor, I don't think he's capable of causing something like this, nor is it his style' Espio replied.

'Charmy?'

Charmy just shrugged 'something weird, that's for sure, but I know together we could figure it out, beats hanging around here.'

'There's only one problem' Espio voiced 'we don't know how to get to Soleanna.'

Vector looked like he was about to give a smart come back but then realized he didn't have one and Charmy seemed to deflate where he hovered 'awe…great.'

Moving to lean against the table in thought vector tapped his jaw, thinking…Charmy suddenly leapt high into the air screaming 'I got it', causing Vector to fall to the floor, and then zoomed out the front door.

'There are times I really want to swat that little guy' Vector grumbled, getting up.

Espio just smirked from his position by the wall.

After several minutes of waiting in which Vector put his feet up in his chair and yawned and Espio spun one of his daggers on his finger, Charmy finally came back in, dragging Marcus 'ok guys, now we have a way back, Marcus can show us how to find Soleanna.'

The three got up and headed out the door, off on their next mission.


	2. Chapter 2

After travelling through the forest and then into the open grassland, taking their time so Marcus could keep up with them, Team Chaotix finally stopped to rest at the base of a small waterfall.

'So' said Vector 'how exactly do we get to Soleanna and where is the way through, I mean you got here so you must know right?'

Marcus nodded 'there is a town not far from here, the way through is just beyond, I just hope I can find the spot again.'

Charmy flew around the river and waterfall 'don't worry, we'll help you find it, we've been to other worlds before so we know how it works…kind of.'

'Then you know more than me' Marcus laughed 'someone created this little portal for the sole purpose of sending me through to find you, we'll be closing it once you're through.'

Vector looked at him 'what! But then how do we get back?'

'When you solve the case, or if you truly and honestly can't, then we'll re-open for you and bid you farewell.'

Espio, who had been sitting on a rock saying nothing and quietly absorbing the information made a small 'humph' like noise.

'Do you have any ideas on what is wrong in Soleanna' Marcus asked curiously.

Vector shook his head 'no, I think we'll need to do some more investigation and talk to your Princess Elise in person.'

'I have a contact in Soleanna who may be able to help' Espio added 'Knuckles the Echidna, short tempered guy but reliable.'

Charmy looked at Espio 'you sure bringing Knuckles into this is a good idea Espio, I mean I know you and him go back but… you know how he can be.'

Suddenly there was a noise off in the distance, the sound of laser blasts, crashes and shouts. Espio stood up 'I'll check it out, you two stay here with our guide.'

Espio leapt through the trees, heading towards the noise. When he finally emerged in a clearing he found a large group of Dr Robotnik's robots surrounding…Mighty.

Espio couldn't help but smile, it had been years since he'd seen his former Chaotix team mate; he'd gotten a bit taller and looked a little older too but then that was too be expected.

Seeing that Mighty looked a little outnumbered he leapt into the air, began a spin attack and knocked one robot so hard it shot through a line of other robots. He then kicked off a nearby stump and hit another robot then flipped in the air and sent two of his daggers into the weak point of two more approaching from behind.

Mighty mean while rolled into his strong ball and rolled through the rest knocking them down. The final robot was bigger and tougher than the others, Espio looked at Mighty and the two nodded, remembering their old trick; Mighty rolled into his ball and Espio back flipped kicking him with awesome speed and power like a football right into the robot, sending it's upper half flying and bottom half stumbling to the floor.

Mighty uncurled himself and looked over at him 'Espio… I haven't seen any of you guys in years, saw Knuckles a couple of times at a distance but never really got close, how you been?'

Espio smiled 'good, still fighting off the doctor as always though.'

Mighty nodded 'yeah, that never changes, but you know I'm not big on fights but I love to explore, been all over.'

Suddenly thinking of it he says 'ever been to a place called Soleanna?'

Mighty shook his head 'no, never heard of it, what's it like?'

'Don't know, myself and the rest of Chaotix are headed there soon, how about you join us.'

Mighty rubs his chin, thinking it over 'hmmm, I don't know, I kind of enjoy the quiet explorer life, but then I always have enjoyed a good adventure too, why are you going there?'

'Chaotix run a Private Investigation business now, we have a client there' Espio replied, he turned and started back through the trees, Mighty followed him.

'So… not just a bunch of misfits anymore huh?'

Espio shook his head 'no, Knuckles left too, he went off to be a treasure hunter.'

Mighty nodded 'that figures, how about Sonic, I hear word of him all over the place.'

'Around, as always' Espio said simply, his view of Sonic was fairly indifferent, like Knuckles.

As the two of them returned to the waterfall where the others were waiting Vector said 'there you are, what happened, I heard all sorts of noises, sounded like a real fight…MIGHTY!'

Charmy got so distracted by the appearance that he crashed right into a tree 'oww, Mighty!'

'Hi guys, Espio helped me out of a tight spot with some of Robotnik's minions' Mighty said 'it's good to see you all again.'

'Whose minions' asked Marcus confused by the name reference.

Mighty looked at Marcus 'whose the human, we don't see many of them here.'

'He's our guide' Charmy voiced before anyone else could speak 'he's showing us the way to Soleanna.'

Vector nodded walking over to pat Mighty on the shoulder 'yeah, because uh…we don't…uh, well we don't know the way.'

Mighty nodded 'so you're the new leader now that Knuckles is gone, huh Vector?'

Vector nodded 'yep' after a moment of silence he continued 'so Mighty…I know you left Chaotix, but why don't you come back re-join us, just for now at least, help us out with our latest case.'

'Yeah we could always use another pair of hands and another brain' Charmy added 'come on please.'

Mighty rolled his eyes 'ok, I'll come with you guys, I have to admit this Soleanna world has sparked my interest.'

Meanwhile back in Soleanna, Sonic and the others had just finished helping clean up the town.

'Thank you' said one of the men to Sonic 'thank so much for helping us stranger, your name is Sonic yes?'

Sonic nodded 'yeah and don't worry, we'll do all we can to get back what the Babylon Rogues stole from you.'

A woman came beside the man 'thank you so much Mr Sonic, we would be so grateful, things have been hard for us lately, fish have been scarce as it is, the tides are changing, something is scaring them off, we need all the supplies we can get.'

'Not to mention the…problems our people have been suffering' the man added.

Tails stepped forward 'problems?'

The man nodded 'it seems to be happening all over Soleanna, even in the capital, people are suffering from nightmares and visions.'

Amy gasped and stepped forward 'that's so weird, I've been having them too.'

Knuckles nodded 'so have I.'

Sonic and Tails looked at each other then said 'yeah…me and Tails too, it seems like everyone here is effected.'

'Not me' came a small voice and they all turned to look at Cream who was sitting on a small step 'it all sounds very worrying but…for some reason I'm fine.'

'Hmmm' said Tails beginning to pace… 'how strange, I wonder why we're all effected then. I was going to say maybe it's because we're in the Soleanna world but…if Cream is fine…'

'Then maybe it's something else' Knuckles finished.

Meanwhile, high in the snowy mountains of Soleanna, the area called White Acropolis lay Dr Robotnik's base, hidden by the snowstorm and mountains and guarded by hundred of cannons, lights and robots. High atop his tower he stood inside his command centre and looked out over the storm. He had re-considered his attack and kidnapping of the princess during the Soleanna Festival for a number of reasons; the first being that his spy bots had seen Sonic and his pesky friends amongst the crowds, the second was that he had formed a better idea. He would collect the Chaos Emeralds in due course but first he needed a distraction, to keep that pesky hedgehog and his friends busy.

Turning to the four capsules behind him he said to his worker drone 'so, are they ready?'

'Yes master, doctor, designed and prepared to your specifications by your latest company, Robotix Inc.'

'Excellent' he smiled, a gleam in his eye, Sonic may have got the upper hand on him many times in the past but this time…this time he would succeed, his plan was flawless 'open it, let me look upon my new right hand man.'

The capsule hissed as pressure was released and opened slowly, the smoke clearing to reveal a midnight blue Metallic Hedgehog, Robotnik shivered in excitement and his drone looked at him 'something wrong doctor.'

'No, it's just so…familiar, not only does it remind me of my arch nemesis but it is an exact physical copy of the machine that betrayed me and attempted to become the overlord of all that exists, it sends shivers down my spine just to look at it' he reached out to run a hand down the side of it's metal head.

'The Metal Sonic 5000 is absolutely obedient to you master, it has the old ones memories, it's powers even more so in fact, but it lives only to serve you as your right hand and obey your orders' the drone replied, unconcerned.

'Excellent, then he shall live, this is the machine I truly intended to create, the first was a failure, obsolete, this one is the ultimate masterpiece' and with that he pressed the button activating the surge of electricity that brought it to life. Metal Sonic rose it's head and its red eyes lit up.

Robotnik stepped away from the capsule to look at MS, the metallic nightmare stepped forward out of the capsule and lifted it's head to stare directly at Dr Robotnik, not saying anything. It then looked around at everything, clearly analyzing all around it. It finally returned its gaze to Robotnik 'I live to serve you master, what would you have me do.'

Robotnik threw up his arms 'yes, finally, a success, I'll be sure to trust Robotix Inc with my future projects more often. I have a special mission for you MS; you will lead an elite team of robots, Alpha Robotix, and your duty will be to distract Sonic and his friends by any means necessary.'

MS nodded 'gladly, who are my counterparts in this mission.'

Robotnik activated the three other capsules and they slowly began to open 'the first will be the new Metal Knuckles, codenamed Knuckalix.'

MS stepped in front of the capsule to star at the deep red robot with the white stripes on his spikes, like himself, and a low black cape attacked to his back also like himself.

'I sense a different type of CPU in this one, it is not like my own' MS said after examining Knuckalix for a moment.

Dr Robotnik laughed 'very perceptive of you, yes we decided to keep Knuckalix on a short leash, giving that he is a prototype design, he does not have as much…free will, as you or the other robots will have but he follows commands and is far more powerful than the true Knuckles could ever hope to be.'

MS didn't respond, he merely looked to the next capsule 'and this one?'

'Why don't you tell me' smiled Robotnik, standing tall.

Running an analysis MS finally says 'model type Gemerl, updated model Gemerl-X; a multi purpose combat robot, neither supremely strong nor fast but highly aerodynamic and capable of merging with many machines to strengthen them and it's own armour and weaponry.'

'Exactly, Gemerl-X will be acting as your…messenger' Robotnik said as he activated the two, surging Knuckalix and Gemerl-X to life with a massive jolt of electricity from the cables plugged into their backs. Knuckalix tugged forward, cables coming loose automatically and the Muscular Machine stepped from its capsule.

Gemerl-X followed right after, the two stood before Robotnik 'what do you command, master' the two said together.

MS folded its arms and turned to face the window 'hah, mere puppets to your will, I am your partner doctor but I am no puppet.'

Robotnik laughed 'but of course, you are my new right hand MS, together we shall conquer the world, with you as my supreme commander.'

MS turned to the last capsule 'so who is the last member of this Alpha Robotix team I am to lead' however when he saw the form of E-123 Omega in the capsule, he leapt back, aiming his arm gun at it.

'No MS, lower your weapon' Robotnik shouted.

'I will not, this machine is rogue, it fought alongside my nemesis.'

Robotnik stood between them 'it has been reprogrammed, to serve me.'

MS didn't change its stance but lowered its arm 'the E-Series was one of my most successful robot designs' Robotnik continued 'Omega has proven this by being a rogue thorn in my side for far too long, but not anymore, I had him captured and now he will work with you to stop Sonic.'

MS clenched its fist 'it cannot be trusted, it could turn on us.'

Gemerl-X stepped forward 'I agree, with all due respect master, Metal Sonic is right.'

Robotnik growled and slammed his fist on the table 'silence! I know what I'm doing, if he attempts to turn against his orders he will shut down, he will fight with us or fall silent, those are his only options.'

As Omega came to life and stood beside the other three, Robotnik pressed a bunch of buttons on his computer and a map of Soleanna came up; several areas zoomed up closer in and the computer echoed out 'Chaos Emeralds located.'

'My, they're far apart, this is going to take sometime, well then I guess its time you got to work isn't it MS' Robotnik said spinning his chair to look at the four of them.

MS nodded 'what are your orders?'

'Knuckalix I want you to hunt down Knuckles' old friends, the Private Investigators called Team Chaotix and then take down Knuckles, separate him from Sonic.'

Knuckalix nodded 'as you command' then sped off through a door.

'Gemerl-X, I have a special mission for you, as well as acting as a messenger for your comrades you are to find and capture these two and bring them to me alive' Robotnik brought up two pictures on the computer, one of a pink hedgehog and the other of a green one.

Gemerl-X left without a word, continuing Robotnik said 'with those two in my hands I am convinced Sonic will finally be forced to do anything I tell him to.'

Suddenly an alarm rang out and Robotnik turned to the computer 'what!'

The computers voice rang out 'warning, intruder alert, intruder alert.'

'Hmmm, I wonder who this could be' Robotnik said bringing up the camera feed on the monitor 'ah, it's the batgirl, that sneaky little spy, I wonder what she's after, well she won't get far; Omega begin your mission parameters.'

Omega shifted to life 'new mission confirmed apprehend Rouge and Shadow, beginning mission' and he too vanished out the door, leaving MS alone with Robotnik.

'I will go and monitor Sonic and his allies, leave it to me doctor, I will turn them against him, against each other, soon he will be alone and then you can make your move but if you intend to kill him, I request you give me that pleasure.'

Robotnik laughed 'you truly are a masterpiece, agreed, now go, contact me when you have made progress.'

Meanwhile outside in the raging storm Rouge desperately leapt from cliff to cliff, avoiding the searchlights and robots wherever possible but even she couldn't keep this up for ever, she'd messed up and now the entire robot army was coming down on her head. She landed on top of one of the searchlights and smashed it out with her boot then leapt onto a rock outcropping and took out the robots with a couple of her bombs.

'God, where did all these robots come from, one minute nothing and the next…well never mind that now, I gotta get out of here.'

She'd been sent here by the human Special Forces, she was doing them a favour, looking into the doctors affairs for them, making sure he wasn't planning anything too…Apocalyptic. She somehow doubted that, all the doctor ever seemed to care about was conquest, not destruction; it was just his methods that were problematic.

She pulled herself up the last cliff and over into the next valley, breathing a sigh, finally she was away from the searchlights and robots, she could take a moment to breath. Well at least she hadn't gotten out of there empty handed; she'd managed to steal some disk from the doctor's base before leaving, hopefully it wasn't going to be a waste of her time.

Shadow sped through the blizzard, blasting aside the robots in his way like they were nothing, well they were really, he could see the searchlights in the distance, he must be getting close to the base's perimeter.

'Agent Shadow, come in Agent Shadow, do you copy' came the voice from his comlink.

'Yes, I'm approaching the base' Shadow replied.

'We've lost contact with Agent Rouge, she infiltrated the base about an hour ago but we recently lost contact with her, either she's been compromised and captured or something's gone wrong with her comlink, either way we want you to find her, get her and the data she's carrying out of there, understood?'

'Understood, beginning mission' and with that he sped off again into the storm, he wasn't a fan of working with the humans…or with anyone really but he felt it was the least he could do after the misunderstanding Black Doom incident. Plus it was Rouge, the only person he would ever consider calling a real friend.

He sped down the valley knocking aside all the robots that got in his way, dodging rocks and trees and winding along narrow icy paths over deep chasms.

As he reached the bottom of the valley he came to a sudden stop as a large robot with a hammer came out of some sort of trap door in the floor, from a speaker somewhere Robotnik's voice echoed 'thought I didn't see you coming aye Shadow, oh you made more than enough noise, I heard you coming a mile off, first my Juggernaut will deal with you then your friend Rouge.'

'It doesn't matter what you send to stop me doctor, you know you can't defeat me' Shadow yelled back.

The Juggernaut looked strong but Shadow had a feeling it was all talk, it ran at him and swung it's hammer, almost toppling over due to the weight, Shadow hit it with a Chaos Lance attack knocking it onto its back and its outer armour falling off. He then dove down straight into the centre of its body smashing it in two.

'Ha' Shadow grumbled 'not even a challenge.'

'Don't think this is over Shadow, you have more surprises in store for you' came the doctors voice as Shadow sped off to continue his search.

Shadow ran through the storm for what felt like hours and eventually heard what sounded like a fight, he ran towards the noise; out of the fog appeared Rouge and Omega, they were fighting each other.

To Shadow this made no sense, last he'd seen Omega had been on their side but no time to figure out why now, first he had to save Rouge, he leapt past Rouge and whacked Omega back.

'Shadow' Rouge said sounding both surprised and relieved.

'Omega, what are you doing' he asked the robot but Omega didn't seem capable of reason.

The robot stepped forward and raised his weapons 'Rouge and Shadow, primary targets have been acquired, I will defeat you.'

Shadow launched at Omega again and kicked him back 'use reason Omega, you cannot beat me, you know my power, don't make me destroy you.'

Omega didn't reply merely switched it's arms to machine guns and begun firing, Rouge flew high and Shadow sped to the side dashing away.

Rouge, desperate to help tossed a bomb down onto Omega but hardly seemed to phase him.

Omega rocketed up into the air and hit Rouge hard, knocking her out of the sky and into the snow.

'Target down' Omega said 'Shadow…' but before he could say anymore Shadow rocketed up and unleashed a volley of kicks and punches into Omega.

'Aaaarrrgghhhh' Shadow bellowed, he then spun and hit Omega hard with both his legs sending him crashing into the far cliff and a pile of rocks crashed down on top of him.

Shadow ran over to Rouge and offered his hand 'you ok?'

'Yeah, I'm fine' she replied standing up and brushing away the snow.

The sound of shifting rock signalled Omegas return and Shadow turned back to the pile of rock 'repairs…requi…red' Omega said awkwardly 'this is...n't o…ver' and he flew off into the storm.

The two of them took shelter in one of the small caves while they rested, Rouge sat down but Shadow stayed standing, staring out at the storm.

'What's wrong with him' Shadow asked at last, turning to Rouge.

Rouge shrugged 'I don't know, I was walking through here, looking for the way out of this place and he attacked me, I thought he was on our side, but I guess he's back with the doctor now.'

Shadow stared where Omega had left for a long moment 'hmmm, I wonder.'

'It's unfortunate, he was a powerful ally' Rouge said, after a long silence she decided to change the subject 'so what are you doing here, last place I thought I'd find you.'

'I'm doing the humans a favour' Shadow said, not sounding proud of it.

Rouge laughed 'I'm not sure what's more shocking, that they asked you or that you accepted.'

'After what happened in that Black Doom incident I felt I owed them, besides it was you who had gone missing' Shadow muttered.

Rouge stood up 'aw, I'm flattered Shadow, I suppose from you that is almost a compliment.'

'What are you doing here anyway' Shadow snaps, changing the subject.

Rouge pulled out a CD 'I was getting this, its some data files of the doctors that the government want.'

Shadow gave a small laugh 'still their lapdog Rouge? Don't you think you can do better than that?'

'Hey I'm my own boss, like you it's just a favour, I'm a treasure hunter first and spy second' Rouge replied angrily.

'So you didn't even ask what it is that you're getting for them; your too trusting, I trust the humans as much as I do the doctor, they all have their own little schemes' Shadow said quietly.

Rouge stepped towards him 'it doesn't have to be that way Shadow, give people a chance.'

Their conversation was broken by Shadow's comlink 'Agent Shadow, come in Agent Shadow, are you still there?'

Shadow sighed and activated the speaker 'this is Shadow, I have Rouge, we are returning to the city now.'

'Excellent news, well done, we'll meet you at the HQ by the harbour, command out.'

Shadow looked at Rouge, she looked like she wanted to talk more about their conflict but he just turned his back on her 'come on, let's go.'

The two arrived in the small harbour and warehouse city and headed for the docks. As they passed through the town square, with the shadow of the large clock tower looming over them, a group of robots appeared, surrounding them.

Hearing scream and cries they looked around to see robots coming into the city from all over, the water, the sewers, from the mountain pass 'the doctor must have discovered this was missing' Rouge said gesturing to the CD in her hand.

Shadow nodded 'get to HQ and hand it over to them, go now, I'll deal with this.'

'You sure, there seem like a lot for…' but Shadow cut her off.

'I said go' and with that Rogue quickly flew off into the sky, some of the robots tried to follow but Shadow leapt into front of them and kicked them to the floor, smashing them apart.

'Sorry but you're going to have to deal with me first.'

Rouge flew over the buildings and to the docks, seeing the HQ facing the ocean as she swooped around to fly down and land along the shoreline group of buildings. The agent outside the building ran up to her 'Agent Rouge, your back, where's Shadow?'

Rouge handed him the CD 'get this to command and get it out of here, the doctor has brought a large platoon of robots to try and get it back, Shadow is holding them off, what matters right now is that you get it out of here.'

The agent nodded and ran inside the building, Rouge looked back into the distance 'Shadow, I hope you're alright.'

Shadow dashed around the city streets, knocking aside the robots as he went, dodging lasers, bombs and bullets. As he passed civilians he yelled to them to get to cover but they were well ahead of him and many of them were running to the outskirts of the city.

He leapt onto a robot's head then sped through a string of ten airborne robots, then shot a volley of chaos lances into ones on the grounds to stun them, then landed in the middle of them and smashed them apart with a spinning breakdance like move with his legs.

He dashed forward and straight through a weak shield of a laser firing robot and shattered it into pieces 'none of you can stop me' he shouted.

Rouge flew up onto the roof of the clock tower, looked out into the distance and gasped 'my god, Shadow!'

She flew down to find him destroying the last of the robots 'Shadow we have to go, the CD has been delivered, we can't stay here.'

'There…is no we Rouge, I work alone' Shadow said 'and if I can defeat Omega what makes you think these robots stand a chance?'

'The old saying, quantity over quality' she replied pointing to the sky where the sun was practically blacked out by approaching robots.

'That can't stop me' Shadow said almost laughing.

'Maybe not, but think of the harm you could cause to everyone here and this city, we should leave and wait to here word of what was on that CD' Rouge said.

'I don't work for the humans, I don't care what's on it' Shadow said, absently blasting a struggling robot with a chaos lance.

'But what if it's something really dangerous that the doctor planned to use against us all?'

Shadow sighed, closing his eyes, 'alright, we'll go, the doctor wins this round' and the two sped off and out the gates of the city towards the central plains.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Re-Union

As Sonic and the others finished clearing up the town there was a crashing like noise from the distance and Sonic leapt up onto the cliff side to look down the coast.

'What's that awful noise' said one of the humans, 'it sounds like…'

'A ship' said Knuckles cutting him off as he saw what Sonic was seeing; a small sailboat had crashed onto the shore, how was beyond him though, the water was perfectly calm.

'Shall we take a look' Tails said, flying just above his two comrades.

'Yeah, I think we should, someone could be hurt, come on let's go' Sonic said leaping down the other side of the cliff and heading for the boat.

Knuckles groaned 'why do we seem to be playing rescue so much today' but he followed none the less.

Amy and Cream, unwilling to let Sonic too far out of their sight followed after the three of them.

The sailboat was a mess, the primary damage being the gaping hole in its underside.

Sonic whistled 'wow, that's one big hole, I wonder what happened.'

Tails flew over the boat 'how do you think it got here, I mean who sailed it and how did it crash, the sea is perfectly calm.'

Knuckles shrugged and walked up to the side of it 'beats me' he tapped the side of the boat with his fist 'but it isn't going anywhere now.

'But what about the people' Amy said 'you don't think they are still out there do you' she asked pointing to the sea.

Sonic gulped and gave a small laugh 'well I ain't going to find out, you know I hate water.'

'So you're just going to let them drown' Amy yelled back 'oh that's real heroic of you.'

'Why don't you do it then' growled Knuckles stepping forward.

Suddenly a voice distracted them all and they turned back to the wreck 'uh excuse me but who…Sonic, Sonic the speedy hedgehog is that you and Tails too, oh wow this is bonza just what I need to get out of here, it's great to see you again by the way.'

Sonic scratched his head and Tails flew down to land next to the young, girl, which Tails could now see was a racoon, talking to them 'um…do we know you?'

'Sure you do mate, we met a while back, you and Sonic was passing through my homelands the South Islands, I'm Marine the Racoon' Marine replied scuffing up Tail's hair in a childish way.

'Oh yeah' said Sonic, 'now I remember, you come from the same world as Blaze don't you?'

Marine nodded 'yeah I do but I like to sail around, unfortunately I've been a bit…landlocked here' she said scratching her head and staring down at the wreck under her feet.

'What happened' Amy asked 'the sea looks perfectly calm.'

Marine shook her head 'I have no idea how but I came through some sort of…portal or something, it was weird but on the other side I was stuck in a roaring storm, which is why when I came through I was sent crashing onto the shore.'

Tails gasped and turned to Sonic 'Sonic perhaps that is why the Babylon Rogues got stuck here, perhaps there was a storm or something similar in their world and they came through by accident, and now they are stuck.'

'Whoa stuck' Marine said 'here, you're kidding me right.'

Sonic shook his head 'as far as we know there is no way out of this world once you enter, the only people who might know are the royalty.'

'But there must be a way' Amy said 'what would be the point in having a world so sealed off.'

'Maybe to them this is the only world' Cream added and everyone looked at her.

Tails flew down, and Marine slid down to join them 'Cream's got a point guys' Tails said 'this may be a world where they don't know about others.'

Knuckles laughed 'yeah right, they seemed pretty calm considering all the weird stuff going on and animals like us running around.'

Sonic stepped away from the others, thinking 'we should try and speak with the Princess of Soleanna, maybe she can give us some answers and can help each other out.'

'I don't know Sonic, seek an audience with the ruling sovereign herself, it could be difficult and we don't want to use force' Tails replied, sighing 'but I'll do what I can to help.'

Knuckles sighed 'what can I say, I'm stuck in this world until we find a way out so…I'm with you too.'

Amy turned to Marine 'I'm sorry about your boat Marine, we'll keep an eye out for a new one but…well I was wondering if in the meantime you'd like to join me and Cream as part of our Team Rose.'

Marine laughed 'Sonic warned me he had some weird friends, you must be Amy, but yeah alright, I'll travel with you, for now.'

Amy clapped 'great' turning to talk to Sonic she said 'right no…' but Sonic and his team had already ran off into the distance.

Amy turned red and cried in frustration 'oooohhh that hedgehog, he's going to be sorry, come on let's get after them.'

By the time Amy and her team caught up to Sonic and his team they were way into the grasslands and had stopped near a small village. Knuckles and Tails were waiting outside the village, knuckles lying against a rock and Tails sitting on top of it.

'You guys could of at least waited for us' Amy shouted over her heavy breathing 'you just ran off without even saying goodbye.'

Knuckles looked at her 'oh yeah, sorry, goodbye.'

Amy tried to leap at him but Tails stopped her and Marine soon pitched in to help, Cream stayed where she was reluctant to get involved in the fight.

At last sighing Amy said 'where is Sonic?'

'He's in town, apparently they actually sell chilli dogs in this world, or something like it at any rate, it got him all excited and he ran off, we're waiting here' Knuckles explained, looking forward, not sounding like he cared greatly.

'Well I'm waiting until he returns and then he is going to have to apologize to me for leaving so rudely back there' Amy said, her arms crossed stubbornly.

The five of them waited patiently for what felt like hours but probably wasn't anywhere near that long. What finally drew their attention wasn't the sound of Sonic's approach though but the hard to forget sound of Extreme Gear.

Knuckles got up and looked around suddenly looking eager and grinding his fists 'I know that sound and that sound means revenge time for us, right Tails?'

Tails didn't feel so sure 'don't you think we should wait for Sonic, we can't take them alone.'

'Sure we can' Knuckles said and before Tails cold stop him he leapt off the rock and onto one of the passing boarders.

'Aaaaaggghhhhh' cried the boarder, it wasn't a voice Tails recognised and it didn't sound like Jet despite being green.

'I got him' Knuckles yelled happily, getting off the guy and pulling him up 'I…hey, you're not…who are you?'

The second boarder had stopped and turned to come back 'hey, whoever you are let my brother go before I smack you round the head with this thing' she said nodding to her board 'and trust me, they hurt a lot.'

Knuckles grumbled and put the guy down 'yeah I know that from experience, sorry, thought you were someone else.'

The two boarders looked at each other and then back at the group; the girl leapt off her board and the boy picked up his own and the two walked to stand a few feet away from them 'this…"someone else"' said the boy 'it wouldn't happen to be a gang of buzzards called the Babylon Rogues would it?'

Knuckles gaped 'you know them, I didn't know many people who did, at least not by their true name anyway, some just call them the skilled X-Gear boarders.'

'We've had our own run ins with them over the last few years' the boy replied 'my name is Manic and this is Sonia, we're X-Gear riders and…' he looked at Sonia.

Sonia decided to continue 'my brother is uncertain how much to say that's all, we're looking for someone, someone I have no doubt you will have heard of.'

'Who' Tails asked curiously.

'His name is Sonic the Hedgehog, believe me we have a meeting with him that is long overdue' Manic replied.

'What' said Tails, shocked 'how do you two know Sonic, why do you want to talk to him?'

Amy frowned at Sonia 'I sure hope you aren't looking for a date with Sonic, Sonic's my boyfriend.'

Sonia laughed 'No you completely misunderstand our connection to Sonic.'

'To your infamous blue hero' Manic added, rather snidely 'who can supposedly do no wrong.'

'Manic' Sonia cautioned, seeing that Knuckles and Amy were both glaring at his comment.

'Who do you two think you are, you don't know the first thing about Sonic' Amy shouted 'he's a great hero and always has been.'

Manic smiled 'on the contrary, I'm sure Sonic has done many great things since we last saw him, but we know the true him for Sonia and I are Sonic's brother and sister.'

Sonia smacked her hand into her face, sighing, clearly wishing Manic wasn't so forward.

Tails was so dumb founded he forgot to rotate his tails and fell to the ground 'what!'

Knuckles stopped beating his fist and slowly just let his jaw drop 'brother…sister…but… but but, that's not…how…'

'It's a long story' Sonia said 'long story short we are triplets; Sonic was born gifted with super speed, neither Manic nor I was gifted but we were separated by our mother to keep us safe. I was raised by nobility, Manic on the streets and thus became very street smart and Sonic on the average door step. We eventually found each other and had many adventures. Uncle Chuck helped us with most of them, he was blue like Sonic but with a moustache. We later discovered our father was Julius or Jules a veteran war hero but became an outcast of the kingdom we lived in. We never met him though and what happened to him neither Manic nor I know, Sonic might…which is part of why we are looking for him.'

'But…'Amy said 'how can you possibly be…why did Sonic never tell us about this?'

Knuckles rounded on Tails 'tell me you knew something about this, you've known him longer than any of us.'

Tails shook his head 'I'm as shocked as the rest of you but I'm sure he had a good reason for not telling us.'

Manic gave a small doubtful cough like noise 'and I suppose you're going to tell us he also had a reason for up and leaving us behind, Sonic could have taken us with him on his adventures but no…he just left.'

'Sonic would never do something like that' Amy said angrily, narrowing her eyes she said 'are you sure we're talking about the same person here?'

Sonia put a hand on her brother's arm 'there's only one Sonic who can run at the speed of sound is their not and is known by names such as the Blue Wind…you'll have to forgive Manic, he's found it harder to forgive Sonic, but I have, whatever the reason he left I'm willing to forgive him…if only we could talk to him.'

Tails looked around at the others, nodded then said 'well he should be here any minute, we're close friends of his.'

'Let's not exaggerate' Knuckles grumbled.

'Where is he' Sonia asked curiously.

'He's in the village, getting food, I wonder what's taking him so long' Amy muttered.

They didn't have to wait much longer, the sound of Sonic's approach soon reached their ears 'hey guys, we're in luck, they do sell chilli dogs here and boy do they look tasty I…' but he stopped talking when he saw Manic and Sonia and dropped the plate of Chilli Dogs to the floor, letting it smash to pieces.

'No…it…it can't be…it's impossible…Manic…Sonia' Sonic stuttered, he had never looked so shocked and paralyzed in all of Tail's time with him.

'It's us Sonic, still alive' Manic said 'are you happy or disappointed?'

Sonia shoved Manic 'brother! I mean…Manic, we agreed no jumping to conclusions, remember.'

'What are you talking about' Sonic said 'and how can you ask me that, why would I be disappointed to see my own brother and sister alive?'

There was an intake of breath from the others as their identity was confirmed by Sonic.

Manic refused to move nearer to Sonic though, unlike Sonia who had moved a step or two nearer to him 'I want to hear it, hear it from him Sonia…what happened that night Sonic, why did you leave us?'

Sonic frowned 'I didn't leave you, I thought you were dead, I was told you were both dead…how was I to know you were still alive and…what…waiting for me?'

Sonia nodded in confirmation 'you see Manic, I knew there must have been a reason but…who told you we were dead?'

'Robotnik of course' said Sonic; still not quite believing he was staring at his long lost siblings.

'And you believed him' Manic said laughing 'gullible much?'

'We were only kids Manic, get over it. He had a very convincing set up to fool me I can tell you, thought a lot more than just you died, I thought Uncle Chuck and all the Freedom Fighters died too and mom as well. I left because I thought there was nothing left for me anymore.'

Sonia's face saddened and she ran over to hug Sonic 'I'm sorry Sonic, sorry you had to suffer that.'

'Yeah and I'm sorry I left you two behind…I just didn't know.'

Manic sighed, looking at the ground and kicking a pebble 'well, I guess that's fair enough' and he walked over to hug him as well. The three siblings embraced and then split apart.

'Before we move on though…I gotta know, what happened to mom' Sonic asked.

'Sorry Sonic, we tried but without you and…well me and Manic left a couple of years after you, using this tech to get around' she gestured to the airboards.

Tails flew over and looked at the boards 'can I take a look?'

Manic nodded 'sure go ahead.'

Tails looked them over 'hmmm, I didn't know X-Gear went back as far as that, at least not this kind.'

Sonia shook her head 'it didn't, the kind we used originally was an older design, it wasn't even called X-Gear, we got this later when we met those buzzards in a racing tournament.'

'The Babylon Rogues' Sonic said 'you've met them?'

Manic nodded 'yeah, we've had our share of meetings, they've been making our life pretty tough, Sonia and I need money to get by and we can either get it by winning races or some thievery both of which they get in the way off.'

'Yeah tell us about it' Knuckles growled.

'Thievery' said Sonic frowning slightly.

'It's not what you think Sonic' Sonia said 'Manic and I needed a way to get money and get by, we never steal much and always find ways to pay the people back…but the Rogues put thieves in a bad light and ruin it for us.'

'I see' Sonic said 'well…we should get moving, Manic and Sonia you um…you're welcome to come with us…if you like.'

The two looked at each other, thinking about it for a minute 'maybe we'll join you later, we just need some time, now that we've found you again' Manic said, scratching the back of his head.

'Ok' Sonic said 'we're headed for the capital of Solleanna, this world, to try and speak with their ruler Princess Elise.'

Sonia nodded 'all right, we'll catch up. Sonic, one last question, did you ever find our father, Jules?'

Sonic shook his head 'no, never…and there's only one living man I can think of who might know anything about him.'

'Who' said Manic and Sonia together.

'Dr Robotnik' Sonic replied

Chapter 4: Past Future 

Silver moved through the streets of his city, troubled by the flashes running through his head, was it some new power or an outside influence. His future world was peaceful and happy but somehow it seemed…wrong…like something was missing. Before he could think about it anymore he heard screams and shouts from far off in the distance and levitated into the air to look around for the source of the disturbance. He saw something going on far off near the edge of the city; he propelled himself forwards and shot off towards the screams to help.

When he arrived he found a ruined street with people and rubble everywhere, he ran over to the nearest wounded 'hey, are you ok, what happened here?'

The man held his stomach as he stood up 'I…I don't know, something came from the sky and, it was like a bolt of lighting and then it was chaos, everything was everywhere' looking at Silver he said 'you…you're that hedgehog, Silver, the one with the powers.'

Silver nodded 'that's right, don't worry, if who ever did this is still around I'll deal with him.'

A voice spoke out from the smoke 'will you now' it was an arrogant and cocky sounding voice, one Silver instantly didn't like.

Silver moved past the retreating civilians and yelled out into the debris 'show yourself, whoever you are.'

'Up here, stupid hedgehog' came the voice and Silver looked up to see a figure standing on top of a lamppost 'I've been looking for you…Silver, figured you'd come running if I stirred up some chaos.'

Silver frowned 'you…who are you.'

The figure crackled with electricity and then vanished, reappearing at floor level near Silver 'I'm Quill the Porcupine, they call me the Harbinger of Storms.'

Now that Silver could see Quill he was able to get a good look at him, he was a light slate blue/grey colour and had many very long quill needles for hair going down his back. This stood to reason though, porcupines having much longer and sharper spikes than hedgehogs or echidnas. Quill's eyes were golden like his own and also had black shadows around them like his own. He had black lighting bolt tattoos on his arms and legs leading up from his boots and gloves. Quill's boots were long like his own but instead of being black with a white stripe down the middle his were white with a purple stripe down the middle and a small black trim between the purple and the white. The underneath of his boot was black. His gloves had a purple stripe on the top and the same glowing mark on the underneath as Silver but his mark, as well as the stripe, was purple. The ankle/ wrist of the gloves and boots was black with spike studs. In short he looked like a more punky futuristic figure next to Silver who looked simply futuristic.

'Why…why are you harming innocent people' Silver asked blocking Quill's path to the people.

Quill smirked 'it's you I'm after Silver, I'm looking for Blaze, last I heard she was travelling with you, where is she?'

Silver frowned 'Blaze…who is Blaze, what are you talking about?'

'I have little patients for hedgehogs as it is, don't test me, tell me where she is and I'll go peacefully' Quill snapped.

'I told you, I have no idea what you're talking about, I don't know anyone called Blaze' Silver replied.

Quill frowned 'very well, if you won't tell me, then I'll just have to beat it out of you.'

Before Silver could reply he was smashed backwards by Quill diving into him in some sort of corkscrew dive, electricity crackling around him as he did.

Silver pulled himself up 'big mistake, take this' and threw a crate at Quill but quill stopped it in midair.

'What' Silver muttered 'you are Psychokinetic too?'

Quill laughed 'no, not quite, but in today's modern world I may as well be.'

'Then…how…' Silver muttered watching the floating crate.

Quill smirked 'Harbinger of Storms Silver, think about that name for a moment…Plasmakineses I can create and control electricity I can also lift anything magnetic like metals and link myself to lightning in clouds or electricity in cables like that lamppost.'

Silver frowned 'I don't care how strong you think you are, I will beat you.'

Quill jumped forward and landed several punches on Silver before leaping behind him at the speed of light using a cable on the ground and hitting him with a kick, knocking him down 'don't make me laugh!'

Silver staggered to his feet and turned but by the time he did Quill had moved again 'you're too slow, you'll never win' Quill said hitting him with a mailbox.

Standing over Silver he said 'as much as I love kicking a hedgehog's butt, I'd rather just know where Blaze is, so tell me already will you.'

Staggering up Silver muttered 'I don't know any Blaze, I swear.'

'I saw you with her, ages ago, but when I came back, you were gone and so was she. Now you're back…and she isn't, where did you go?'

Silver was about to answer when a crackling noise started up and a portal suddenly appeared not far from the two of them, the people around them backed away in fear but Quill, ever the reckless on jumped straight for it and Silver leapt after him 'hey, get back here!'

Quill emerged in a strange foreign place, it looked like…castle ruins 'what the…where am I…I've seen portals before but' turning to look back at the fading portal he muttered 'that was no ordinary portal' moving over to the edge of the ruins he looked out over a valley of castle ruins 'I need to find out where I am.'

Silver fell out of the portal into a jungle 'agh…' as he hit the floor flashes suddenly went through his head; a flaming beast, a black hedgehog and himself holding…gems and a purple cat calling his name from a ruined city and his own voice replying 'Blaze.'

Clutching at his head he muttered 'what…what was that…a black hedgehog…and this cat called Blaze…that was who Quill was looking for…but I've never met Blaze before…what is going on?'

He stood up and looked around 'I need to get to higher ground, find out where I am.'

Quill ran through the valley but soon found himself surrounded by strange machines 'ha, you think you can stop me, no metal can stand against me' he said to them as they circled him.

One of the robots was sending camera feed directly back to Dr Robotnik at White Acropolis, seeing this mysterious new figure he watched Quill on the monitor 'hmmm, strange, who is this one, I haven't seen him before…not one of Sonic's old acquaintances' he looked him over and ran his face through a database analysis 'strange, I've got no data on him.'

He continued to watch as Quill began to charge up his energy 'alright then, if you won't move, I'll just destroy you all, send you straight to the scrap pile.'

There was a flash and the camera's went dead as Quill's electrical powers short-circuited the connection, he attacked the robots one after the other, driving into them like a corkscrew surrounded by electricity. The few robot that managed to avoid him tried to fire missiles but he grabbed them with his powers and threw them back at them.

Quill continued on, leaving the pile of wrecked robots behind him, he finally found himself inside a half destroyed castle building and he looked around at the portraits on the walls, they were pictures of human men and women but their clothes were older, and a different style to that of where he was from. One picture was a man who died, at least according to his time…almost 300 years ago but, the last picture was a Princess Elise the current ruling Sovereign…the time just didn't fit 'this…this can't be…this isn't just my world…but it isn't my time, it is the only thing that could explain this place…and Silver…I heard him come in after me…where did he go?'

Just then there was a noise outside and he turned to see three people walking towards him, he braced himself, ever weary of others; the one in the lead was a green hedgehog with a black leather jacket and red shades, on his right was a female red fox and on his left a brown lynx.

'Well, well ,well, I guess you're the one who destroyed Robotnik's toys, we've been cleaning them out as we go, what's your name?'

'Quill' he replied cautiously, watching all three with guarded eyes, he was in an unknown time and place and he didn't like hedgehogs at the best of times.

Smiling wickedly the green hedgehog offered his hand 'Scourge, that's Fiona and he's Lightning, we're known as The Destructix.'

Quill didn't shake his hand he stood still 'where am I, what is this world?'

Scourge raised an eyebrow 'this place, it's called Soleanna, it's a human world, they worship this Sun God called Solaris apparently, but I, well, we don't care much about all that, we're looking for someone, a hedgehog by the name of Sonic.'

'Never heard of him, can't say I care much for you hedgehogs' Quill replied frowning.

Scourge's smile faded 'what have you got against us?'

'You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I have my reasons' Quill muttered and began to walk past them.

'This Sonic travels with a two tailed fox and red echidna by the name of Knuckles, you sure you ain't heard of him, he's known as the Blue Wind and all sorts of ridiculous names cause he's supposedly so fast.'

Quill turned to look at the three 'supposedly?'

'Sonic and I are kind of like…twins…in a way, we're not related but I'm like the evil twin I can do anything he can, including run at the speed of sound.'

Quill thought about that for a moment, speed of sound huh, impressive but I can do better, under certain conditions of course.

'Did you say echidna' Quill asked and Scourge nodded, Quill scowled, he hated them just as much, or did, but that confirmed it now, in his time echidnas became extinct over 50 years ago, this was definitely not his time.

'Where exactly are you from anyway' Scourge asked.

'None of your business, if I find this blue hedgehog I'll deal with him myself, don't worry' and Quill headed fro the door but Scourge zoomed in front of him to block his way.

'Sorry, can't let you do that, Sonic's mine' his two partners had moved to surround Quill.

Quill laughed 'trust me, you don't want to get me mad, now get out of my way.'

Lightning leapt for Quill but he quickly lifted a piece of metal lying in the corner and hurled it into him before he reached him, hitting him in mid air.

'Lighting' Fiona yelled and ran over to check him 'are you ok?'

Scourge looked between Lightning and Quill 'what…how did you…'

'Like I said…I wouldn't mess with me if I were you' Quill said standing up straight, moving out of his fighting pose.

Scourge however didn't seem ready to give up 'you'll pay for that, suffer the wrath of the Destructix' and he zoomed forward and Quill faster then Quill had ever expected and was knocked backwards and through the far wall.

After a moment Quill yelled and jumped back through 'alright you want rough, I'll give you rough you inferior creature' and he leapt forwards his fist crackling with lightning, Scourge met him head on with a homing attack and the two collided, holding each other fists, snarling at each other, teeth clenched. Quill's teeth crackled with electricity as did his eyes and fists where as Scourge's just seemed to radiate force as though trying to push forwards with incredible difficulty.

'What…are you' Scourge snarled 'how…are you doing this' he noticed his gloves beginning to sizzle under the electricity.

Quill put on an evil smile 'I have powers far beyond what you can understand.'

Their grapple broke and Quill hit Scourge high into the air with an uppercut he then moved for the door 'I don't have time to play around with puny hedgehogs anymore, I got to go.'

Scourge pulled himself up frowning; he had seen some strange things in his time…but that guy…that was new.

Silver moved through the jungle ruins using his psychokinesis to levitate himself over gaps, move over water on logs and hurl rocks and fired missiles back at patrolling robots. The robots were strange, there were a few in the city but they were all harmless.

He reached the highest tower of the ruins and looked around, far off in the distance he could see what looked like castle ruins and a sort of valley, and what looked like mountains in the other, this didn't look like any part of his world.


End file.
